Author: missionspaul

How many friends do you have? In the world of social media that doesn’t mean much really.

Last night I attended a birthday party and it was lovely to see the friends that the person had around her. Over the years they had gathered true friends.

Friendships is so important. Some have been blessed to keep their childhood friends into adult life and others find a friend in university and they stay friends for the rest of their lives.

Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the 13th century sought to discover humanity’s original language – thinking it might be Hebrew, Greek or Latin. So he experimented by isolating a few infants. The nurses involved were sworn to absolute silence, and no one ever spoke to or in the presence of the children. The babies heard not a word, not a single sound from a human voice. Tragically, within several months. they all died. A lamentable result of a bizarre search for knowledge gone awry, the Emperor never learned the original language of humankind – but he did prove one thing: people cannot survive without relationships.

“Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you.” (2 Peter 3 v 1)

Four times Peter uses the words, ‘dear friends’ in this chapter.

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: v8

… dear friends … make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him, v14.

… dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard, v17

If you have a friend who contacts you, v1; or helps you to focus on the important things in life, v8; or wants you to be the very best you can be, v14; or who has your back and doesn’t want you to get hurt, v17; then you have indeed found a dear friend.

You may survive but you cannot thrive without friendships.

Be that friend to someone.

A phrase suggesting it is make-believe and not real. Peter moves into the final part of his letter and reveals why he has written to them.

“Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.” (2 Peter 3 v 1)

He has written to them so that they would think better.

He is not writing to promote himself or to raise their support in his leadership.

He is not solely wanting them to change their behaviour though that is the hoped outcome.

He wants them to think right. He doesn’t want them to be influenced by the thoughts of their world and what is around them. He wants them to have kingdom thinking.

The voices around them are akin to the voices around our world. How will we think? Will our thoughts reflect our society or will they stand out and be different. Will they be wholesome?

^“Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.” (2 Peter 2 v 22)

We know the vomit proverb is in the Bible, Proverbs 26 v 11. The second proverb was obviously known and quite similar to the previous one but we don’t know where it came from.

The dog doesn’t see vomit as we see it, rather it sees and smells food. The pig doesn’t see the mud as we see it, rather it knows it is a place where they can cool down, have a sense of belonging and mark their territory.

Peter is saying that the false teachers were always false; they were never followers of Jesus; they had remained as sinners; dogs will be dogs; pigs will be pigs and fools will be fools; it is the natural thing for a dog to return to its vomit and a pig to her mud. Similarly the Proverb says the fool returns to their foolishness.

Were they ever true believers?

Is it possible for someone to say yes to God; to say yes to the Church; to say yes to Bible College; to say yes to ordination; to say yes to the Pastorate; and then say yes to the vomit and the mud? It is if they were a fool trying to fool everybody but not being able to fool God. It is if they were simply a dog or a pig all along.

“I have undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus. The popular phrase for this is ‘deconstruction,’ the biblical phrase is ‘falling away.’ By all the measurements I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian.” After announcing his divorce, Joshua Harris, author of “I Kissed Dating Goodbye,” and former pastor of a mega-church in Maryland, renouncing his faith.

“What I really miss is connection with people. What I’ve discovered is that I’m ready to connect again. And I’m kind of ready not to be angry anymore. I love you guys, and I love all the friendships and support I’ve built here. And I think it’s important to say that I’m just not a Christian anymore…” Paul Maxwell who wrote for ‘Desiring God’ website again renouncing his faith.

(these quotes are taken from the website Christian Post)

But why?

Were they ever truly in the faith?

There are more quotes and sadly there will be more to come. I hear of leaders going through a deconstructing of their faith and whatever that actually means it ends with them leaving their position and walking away from Church at least and God at worst.

They were doing the same thing in Peter’s generation. Of the false teachers/preachers Peter says:

“If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. (2 Peter 2 v 20-21)

“They are worse off than they were”: If a person has truly been set free then why would they return to being enslaved again? Does that not indicate they were not free in the first place?

“It would have been better not to have known”: What good is it for the person to have preached a lifestyle of freedom and forgiveness only to then turn away from what they have declared? If the truth is that the person was all the while a slave of sin then this Christian life will naturally become too burdensome and they will declare that either you can be a Christian and be whatever you want to be or they will walk away from Christianity altogether.

How is this possible? It is possible if actually the false teachers/preacher are indeed false. They got there under false pretences. They fooled everyone including themselves. But judgment is harder for these people.

For this is a ‘don’t turn back’ faith.

Peter isn’t criticising for the sake of it. He is just stating the truth of what he saw.

“These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” (2 Peter 2 v 17-19)

I know what it is like to drive to a place in northern Africa where streams have flown for generations only to discover a complete dry river bed. I’ve also known the disappointment of the people when they see storm clouds gather with the promise of rain but it simply dissipates.

Peter says that’s what these preachers/teachers are doing. They promise refreshment and blessing but they do not deliver. In fact they are incapable of doing so. They leave people disappointed. People have not given up on their faith in God but they do walk away from church because they did not experience the refreshment that was promised them. A few days ago I watched a church service online. It had beautiful songs to God; a testimony; a report from a mission’s trip; a call for help from the Foodbank; an engaging sermon with an appeal for prayer at the end if people needed it. I felt refreshed. I know there are a great many churches like that one. But then there are others where because of heresy there is simply nothing. It is just noise and promise but it doesn’t lead people to Jesus who gives the refreshing Spirit. Recently I talked with a Church leader who hadn’t yet prayed for anyone to receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. Their reason wasn’t a lack of opportunity but they themselves didn’t know this experience. If you haven’t tasted water you cannot lead anyone to the water to drink.

The freedom that false teachers promise is not freedom in God’s Spirit. It is rather a freedom that is no freedom at all. Be yourself. Come as you are stay as you are. Again if you are not truly free then how can you bring freedom? Promises, promises, just promises that blow in the wind. And why is this? Peter says it is because they themselves are enslaved and do not know freedom. They will pay the full price for this deception.

Peter strongly criticises the heretical teachers of his day and the destruction they were bringing to the church. It is the same today. There seems to be much spiritual blindness. Perhaps we need more donkeys?!

^“But Balaam was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.” (2 Peter 2:16)

When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road. (Numbers 22:23)

Donkeys that see what we at times cannot see.

Donkeys that know how to turn away instead of just carrying on.

Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again. (Numbers 22: 24-25)

Donkeys that will inflict pain on us in an attempt to wake us up.

Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff.  (Numbers 22: 26-27)

Donkeys that will crush our foot to try and wake us up from our blindness.

Donkeys that will lay down before the presence of God.

Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. ³² The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. ³³ The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.” (Numbers 22: 31-33)

Donkeys that will stand in the way of the judgment of God for others.

Balaam’s donkey wasn’t anything but an ordinary donkey and yet he was wiser than his owner. The church needs more donkeys. People that don’t look wise perhaps but who know, see and hear God. People who may be sohumble that they are despised and looked down upon and even used BUT speaker louder and wiser and behave better than even prophets!

Peter doesn’t hold back from those who teach heresy. They are heretics. They are not saved.

I watched a reel yesterday of a Lutheran Church service in America who recited a ‘sparkle creed’ to “worship a non-binary God, whose pronouns are plural”. “I believe in Jesus Christ their child” it continued in the most bizarre of ways. Hersey within the Church has always existed. It didn’t stop after Peter’s generation. It is here in 2023 seen in a variety of ways through creeds and practices. Peter didn’t mince his words ….

“They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, revelling in their pleasures while they feast with you. ¹⁴ With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! ¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer,who loved the wages of wickedness. ¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.” (2 Peter 2 v 13-16)

So Peter’s criticism of the heretics was that the church were being led astray from within by teaching which was seducing and enticing them away from Jesus into idolatry (things we look to in order to find God, peace and satisfaction).

Churches/Christians may not be cursed today but they can be corrupted easily enough. The battle is that of their ego. I want. I deserve. I need. It is just this moment of fantasy. I should look after myself. Yet it is not leading towards Jesus but away.

It is worth reading Numbers 22-24 as I have done this morning but this is Balaam’s error – his ego:

1. Balaam’s ego was boosted when King Balak sent messengers to ask him to curse Israel. Be careful who comes to you because of your ability to fix things, they can leave you needing to be fixed.
2. Balaam’s ego ventured into his prayer life as he tried twice to get God to change His mind so that he could benefit from this opportunity. The focal point of prayer is to do His will not ours.
3. Balaam’s ego showed Balak that idolatry was the enticement for Israel’s downfall. (Rev 2:14) Idolatry is still here today. Consume food but don’t let food consume you. Sex doesn’t define you nor should it saturate your life. Use money, save money, give money but don’t love money. To love these or other things is to sept into idolatry.
4. Balaam’s ego led others astray from God (in v15 “left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer,who loved the wages of wickedness”). Do you ever wonder how the world got to where it is today? Balaam’s teaching!
5. Balaam’s ego is an easy permissiveness which says God has set you free so live how you want. God is good so there is no judgment. God is love so there is no hell.

In Churches around the world today there are strange gospels being preached and taught. It stems from ego. It is the sin of Balaam. It shouldn’t be in the Church nor the lives of Christians. It is but we need to call it out.

This chapter in particular is very similar to the letter of Jude. It seems they are addressing the same issues though coming at it from different perspectives.

The problem? Preachers preaching heresy. Teachers teaching false doctrine. We perhaps don’t understand fully what the heresies were and 2,000 years later we stand up against theories that maybe Peter and Jude didn’t. Nonetheless how they addressed it is how they would speak to us today.

If your Pastor is preaching the Truth of the Gospel today then be thankful that the truth the world holds to has not infiltrated the pulpit.

After Peter says the unrighteous will be punished:

“This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.” (2 Peter 2 v 10-12)

“Those who follow” – They have a following. Success isn’t the measure of truth.

“Despise authority” – Ultimately the Sovereignty of God and His authority. Not that they know or admit to this. But it is seen in the fact that they teach and act like they have authority. They have a title and they speak authoritatively and yet they are blinded to the truth that the authority we have is given by Jesus, it is His authority, we don’t have it, it isn’t ours, it belongs to Him.

“Bold and arrogant” about the issue – True teaching will not tell you to live free from restriction. True teaching will not desire for you to submit to the teacher. True teachers do not focus on criticism.

“Blaspheme what they don’t understand” – Pride blinds them to the blasphemy that they speak. Heresies are blasphemies.

“They will perish like animals” – they live without restraint, they are not tamed animals, but beasts or unreasoning animals that will be caught, receive their justice and destroyed.

Thank God for Preachers that preach the truth!

He was the nephew of Abraham and his story is quite sordid.

• He gave his daughters to be sexually abused by men of the city.
• He commits incest with them in a drunken state.

Reading his story in Genesis 18 and 19 clearly shows a man who is wicked and certainly not righteous. And so these verses are peculiar:-

“… if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials … (2 Peter 2 v 7-9)

Peculiar but amazing because of its redemption.

This was certainly not Lot’s righteousness. He hadn’t done anything righteous. And of course neither have we.

Lot was influenced by the city he lived in. And we too are influenced by the society we live in.

Our sins may not be as dark as Lot’s but nonetheless we are foolish and we fail.

We are not righteous.

Yet Lot’s soul was tormented, he had conviction. And we too feel that conviction when we sin.

The Bible calls us (who put our faith in Him) righteous as Peter does about Lot not because of our actions but because of the Lord’s. It is His grace and mercy.

This is the redemptive story.

To those who have and are doing harm because of heresies taught then judgment is coming. God will not stand back waiting either to remove the righteous people first but they are in fact told to continue to be faithful to Him no matter how difficult their circumstances. Judgment is coming and the righteous will be impacted by it but they will not be destroyed.

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; ⁵ if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶ if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷ and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.” (2 Peter 2 v 4-9)

There’s much to ponder. But today I see:

• That even the exalted beings are judged and so lesser ones even more so, v4.
• If you live in a judged world then you will feel the impact but there is protection for those who live for God, v5.
• God has removed cities completely from the face of the earth and He will do it again, v6.
• If He rescued and called an unrighteous man, ‘righteous’, then He can do that for you and me! (more of that tomorrow) v7-8

Therefore:

The ungodly, the false teachers and false prophets will not escape God’s judgment.

The godly should remain faithful despite the challenges.

God doesn’t harm the righteous when judging the unrighteous.